After 10 days in Bali, it was finally time to leave. We’d gotten a 4pm late checkout from our hotel (see our review of the Hyatt Regency Bali for why we loved it so much) and then made our way to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar.
Our flight wasn’t until just after midnight, but I figured we could just work from one of the airport lounges while we waited as we have Priority Pass memberships. Sadly that didn’t end up being the case as I’ll explain in the ‘Check-In’ section below.
The first leg of our journey back to the US took us from Denpasar to Tokyo Narita on Garuda Indonesia in economy class. While it wasn’t a terrible experience, it was the least impressive economy class flight we’ve had in many years. Here’s a review of our flight.
Garuda Indonesia 880
Denpasar (DPS) – Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Scheduled Departure Time: 12:45am August 14, 2019
Scheduled Arrival Time: 8:40am August 14, 2019
Aircraft Type: Boeing 777
Seats: 33E (me) and 33F (Shae)
Flight Class: Economy
Check-In
Our not great experience with Garuda began when we tried checking in for our flight at the airport. We had a couple of bags to check and so went to their desk at about 5pm. As we went to get in line, a Garuda employee stopped us to ask which flight we were taking and we said we’d be on the Narita flight.
He then advised that we couldn’t check in until 9pm – just under four hours before our flight. That meant we had four hours to kill and couldn’t wait in the airport lounges as they were past security, so we headed back out to the main part of the airport, grabbed a meal at a restaurant there and waited several hours.
Figuring that the rule was that we couldn’t check in until four hours before our flight, we headed back to the counter at 8:45pm. There was no one else in line, but just as we were getting up to the counter, the same employee rushed over and tried telling us that we weren’t allowed to check in until 9pm. This seemed a little ridiculous and it turned out to be so as the employee who was working at the desk called us over anyway and got us checked in. I could understand the original employee having an issue if there was a long line and we’d be delaying a customer with a flight that was leaving sooner, but there were literally no other customers being served at the Garuda desks.
When checking in, we were advised that our bags were checked all the way through to Norfolk. She advised we therefore wouldn’t need to pick up our bags at Atlanta before our flight to Norfolk, but thankfully we knew that wouldn’t be the case. (n.b. In case you’ve not flown back to the US from overseas before, you have to pick up your checked bags at the first US airport you land at, then re-check them. You don’t have to leave the secure area though as there’ll be signs for connecting baggage).
Boarding
Boarding was a bit of a free-for-all. After passengers with Priority Boarding had been let through, passengers in rows 39-52 were due to board next. However, pretty much every person on the flight lined up at that point.
Seats
Economy class on the Garuda Indonesia flight from Denpasar to Tokyo Narita is arranged in a 3-3-3 formation.
Due to how busy the boarding process was, I didn’t get a chance to take a photo of our seats. Waiting at each of our seats though was a blanket and pillow. The blanket was OK – it wasn’t scratchy like some airline blankets can be, but it wasn’t as soft as the one we’d had on our flight on Cathay Pacific from Washington D.C. to Hong Kong a couple of weeks earlier.
Also waiting at our seats was a bottle of water which was a nice touch, as well as a pair of headphones. I always use my own earphones, so I’ve no idea as to the quality of them but, considering it was an economy class flight, it’s safe to assume they weren’t particularly high quality.
The legroom was OK for me, but I’m only 5’9″ and so never have an issue with that on economy flights.
Each seat had its own footrest that could be folded down. I gave it a try but found I was more comfortable with my feet on the floor rather than on the footrest but, similar to the bottle of water, props to Garuda Indonesia for providing that.
There were power outlets and USB ports down between our seats. The fact that the USB port was located there was a little inconvenient when it came to charging my phone. I placed my phone in the seat back pocket, but that meant the cable dangled from beneath our seats to my phone in the seat in front of me. That meant when getting up to go to the restroom, the cable was in the way and so the phone had to be moved to the seat. Most airlines we’ve flown on recently have the USB port next to the screen in front of us which is a much better location.
I think the tray table designer went a little crazy with a jigsaw when they created it. Its shape was a little unusual as it didn’t make it any easier getting out of the seat when the table was down. The only thing I can think is that they must have a ridiculously large outie belly button.
In-Flight Entertainment (IFE)
Each seat in economy class had its own in-flight entertainment system which is to be expected nowadays on international flights. It offered the choice of movies, TV shows, live TV, games, music and kids entertainment.
The selection of movies was poor though as there were only 35 to choose from. On the other hand, they had 50 games to choose from which seemed a little disproportionate.
The IFE system was controlled with a handheld remote that was attached to the seat with a cable. The buttons weren’t always very responsive and which side of the controller you needed to use depended on what you were trying to do.
The Flight
We pushed back from the gate at 00:52 and took off 10 minutes later. After about 15 minutes of being in the air, the cabin crew came around and distributed some amenity kits that contained socks, an eye mask and ear plugs.
About half an hour into the flight, supper was served. Considering it was 1:30am by this stage, a full meal wasn’t served as many passengers would be wanting to go to sleep. It was therefore understandable that only a small snack would be served, but the snack that was served was incredibly disappointing.
It was some kind of pre-packaged pastry that I think contained some kind of chicken curry. I say ‘I think’ as it was virtually all pastry with a tiny bit of filling in the very center. For any Brits reading this, imagine an incredibly disappointing Ginsters spicy chicken slice with worse-tasting pastry and pretty much none of the spicy chicken inside.
On the positive side, the drinks service included complimentary wine and so I got some red wine to go with it.
Just before 2am, the cabin lights were turned out. The flight itself started out pretty bumpy and the captain left the fasten seat belt sign on for nearly all of the 7.5 hour flight.
While I understand that’s done for safety, much of the flight was smooth. After about 15-20 minutes of no bumpiness, I got up to use the restroom and heard a loud rapping on the door as soon as I closed it. I opened the door, but there was no one there. Once I came out of the restroom afterwards, there was a member of the cabin crew giving me evils. Again, I know the fasten seat belt sign is there for a reason, but you can’t leave it on and expect passengers to not use the rest room for 7.5 hours.
The economy class restrooms weren’t very spacious. While it was good that they provided dental kits, they didn’t provide any kind of paper towels – the only thing you could dry your hands with were regular facial tissues that, needless to say, dissolve in your hands.
After getting back to my seat, it was extremely hard getting to sleep due to the temperature in the cabin. Garuda Indonesia kept the cabin excessively warm and they don’t provide individual air nozzles to mitigate that, so it was a fairly uncomfortable flight in that respect.
Four hours after the lights had been turned out, they were turned back on and landing cards were distributed. 20 minutes later, refreshing towels were passed around immediately followed by a small tub of orange juice.
The temperature in the cabin was a little cooler by this point which I greatly appreciated; it just would’ve been nice to have had it not be as warm when we were trying to sleep.
15 minutes after receiving the orange juice we were served breakfast. We had a choice between Japanese rice and chicken or an omelet, so both of us ordered the Japanese rice and chicken.
The meal came with a side of noodles, a small fruit bowl and a bottle of Yakult – something I’d not tried drinking in about 20 years.
The meal was a little bland as it was mostly white rice, although it was made slightly more edible thanks to the small tub of soy sauce. I’m not fussy when it comes to economy class meals, but both meals served on our Garuda Indonesia flight were incredibly poor when compared to those offered by other airlines.
About 45 minutes after breakfast was served, we landed at Narita airport.
Service
Service on our flight could be best described as perfunctory. The flight attendants weren’t rude, but they weren’t particularly warm either; I don’t remember seeing any of them smile during the entire flight.
Cost
We booked our flights using Delta SkyMiles. Our journey from Bali to the US involved the following flights:
- Denpasar, Bali to Tokyo Narita, Japan
- Tokyo Narita, Japan to Atlanta, GA
- Atlanta, GA to Norfolk, VA
Those flights cost us a total of 52,000 miles per person and $51.31 in taxes and fees.
Final Thoughts
In some areas, Garuda Indonesia does a good job with their economy class experience. They have a bottle of water waiting for you when you board, amenity kits are provided and footrests are installed at all seats.
In other ways though, the experience was poor. The guy at the airport set the experience off on the wrong foot as he seemed to be wanting to find ways to say no rather than helping us get checked in. The two meals on the flight were probably the two most bland meals I’ve eaten in the last 10 years (both in the air and on the ground), while having no paper towels in the restroom was strange.
The worst feature for me was how warm the cabin was kept for most of the flight as it meant I had a hard time falling asleep. With the warm cabin, the fasten seat belt sign being left on for pretty much the entire flight even when there was no rough air, flight attendants not being particularly friendly and poor options on the In-Flight Entertainment system, it was my least favorite economy class flight in many years.
While I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid flying economy class on Garuda Indonesia, I’d pick other airlines before them if I had a choice in the future.
Bali Trip Report
You can check out all our posts from our 15th anniversary trip to Bali below:
- We’re Going To Bali For 10 Nights For (Almost) Free – Here’s How
- Flight Antics On The Way To Bali – Here’s What Happened
- Flight Review: Cathay Pacific Economy – Washington Dulles (IAD) To Hong Kong (HKG)
- Review: Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Class Lounge, Hong Kong Airport
- 12 Fun Things To Do In Bali (& 1 To Avoid)
- Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Bali
- Hiring A Driver In Bali – Is It Worth It?
- Having Elephant Mud Fun At The Bali Zoo
- Flight Review: Garuda Indonesia Economy – Denpasar (DPS) To Tokyo Narita (NRT)
- Flight Review: Delta Economy – Tokyo Narita (NRT) To Atlanta (ATL)
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